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52100 hamon

Correct me, if I'm mistaken but I remember seeing someone post somewhere that differential HD of 52100 does not produce a hamon but I've definitely seen something that looks like one on 52100 blades. Can anyone tell me what the deal is here?

Firstly let's establish what Hamon "is".
Hamon is a Japanese word used to define the pattern that the hardened edge of a properly made sword. A common misconception is that Hamon refers to the hardened area, this is incorrect, the hardened area is known as Yakiba.

In modern knifemaking terms however Hamon has come to define the hardened portion of any knife which displays a differentially hardened edge.

There are many ways to achieve a differentially hardened edge but they all center around the same concept, getting the edge hard while keeping the back soft.

I use Satanite clay to insulate the spine area of my knives, thus preventing the spine from cooling fast enough to form Martensite (hard steel), while allowing the edge to harden. I use Parks #50 metallurgical quenchant with all of my blades but similar results can be achieved with any decent quenchant.
This tutorial assumes that you are using appropriate steel for creating a Hamon, a shallow hardening carbon steel is preferable.
1075, 1095, W1, W2 all do really well, 1084 is a little picky, O1 and 5160 are technically possible but a real bear.
Creating a good Hamon starts in the hammering and shaping phase. It is very important to have an understanding of what each heat is doing to the grain boundaries in your workpiece. If you are doing stock removal you should be pretty well set to go, if not you MUST make sure to properly normalize your work before HT.

Is it easier to screw up a blade by doing the temper line? Perhaps by overheating too close to the edge? It just seems to be that it would be way easier to harden the whole blade and temper the back than to harden the edge with a torch.

i ether HT in my kiln and harden the whole blade then temper the whole thing evenlt o0r i clay the spin(still using the kiln t5o controle the temps) and quench (the clay leaves the spine sfter ) then temper the whole blade again

Is it easier to screw up a blade by doing the temper line? Perhaps by overheating too close to the edge? It just seems to be that it would be way easier to harden the whole blade and temper the back than to harden the edge with a torch.

it depends whom you ask.

"All beauty that has no foundation in use, soon grows distasteful and needs continuous replacement with something new." The Shakers' saying.